Next Release Process

We provide our customers with as much information as possible during every phase of Rhino development. We rely on customer input to:

Set priorities

Refine features

Help us solve problems unique to their systems, processes, and related software

Phase 0: Service releases and labs projects

Service releases are bug fix releases that users can download after the final release of every major new version.

Labs projects are plug-ins for the current shipping release. They are early prototypes of features that will be in the next major release. Available now...

Phase 1:Work-in-Progres

At the start of the new version development process, we release a Work-in-Progress (WIP) version to test new ideas and technologies that have been prototyped.

WIP releases (many call this the Alpha release phase) are not production ready, and many ideas and technologies are only prototyped.

All current Rhino users are invited to get involved. Customer feedback at this stage has the most impact on how features and enhancements are designed.

The WIP phase normally takes more than 6 months.

Phase 2:Beta

Once we have most of the core changes finished and tested, we start releasing beta versions. The beta versions should be production ready but may not have all the features or a final user interface.

The beta phase can take another 6 months or more.

Note: Each beta release expires after about two months. A newer beta is always available before expiration. This ensures that bugs are reported for the latest version, and that we don't receive reports for bugs that are already fixed.
Phase 3: Release

We release a new version only when the beta users tell us it is ready.

Beta users are informed when we have stopped development and have released the new version to production. The final beta will not expire for at least two months after the new release starts shipping.